


Don't Let Me Fall (Unless It's For You)

by onewithturtles



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: F/F, Ice Skating, Romance, awkward kind-of confessions, useless lesbianism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-02
Updated: 2018-04-02
Packaged: 2019-04-17 04:00:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14180097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onewithturtles/pseuds/onewithturtles
Summary: Chiara and Carmen go ice skating. It's totally platonic, right? Not a date at all, sure.





	Don't Let Me Fall (Unless It's For You)

**Author's Note:**

> This is a Bunny Basket gift for ccswede99 on tumblr! I had a lot of fun writing it, and I hope you all enjoy reading it. <3

  
  


_ “Chia, let's go ice skating! The new rink finally opened, it'll be so much fun!” _

 

Those were the words Carmen had used two days ago to get Chiara to join her on her latest outing, and now the fiery Italian was stuck in front of her walk-in closet, trying to decide what to wear. Carmen was going to be there to pick her up in just fifteen minutes-  _ why _ had she waited so long to get out of bed? Although she'd already taken care of her hair and makeup, she still had no idea what she wanted to wear. Normally she knew what outfit to pick for any occasion, but today in particular, one thought kept plaguing her mind.  _ Was this a date? _

 

Carmen had been acting differently lately. She was even more physically affectionate than normal, and seemed to be inviting Chiara to more and more places. She was starting to suspect that maybe her best friend liked her, but she still wasn't sure. Carmen had always been affectionate with all her friends, and was endlessly positive, and really her actions wouldn't have been out of place with Maria or Françoise either. Maybe she was just overanalyzing things because of her own not-so-little crush on the woman? Groaning in frustration, she decided to just go with an outfit that would in fact be suited for a date, but subtly, just in case. She picked out a blouse that Carmen had said looked really nice on her and pants that she knew made her ass look amazing. Normally she'd go with a skirt, but it was still way too cold to show off her admittedly fantastic thighs.

 

Chiara had finished getting ready just as her doorbell rang. Several times in a row . Yep, that was Carmen, all right. “Coming!” She yelled, hurrying towards the door. She opened it up to reveal her best friend/potential date. Carmen was all smiles, as usual, and immediately rushed forward to envelop Chiara in a tight hug.

 

“Aw, Chia, you’re wearing that shirt! You look so  _ cute _ !” she cooed, earning an embarrassed squawk from Chiara as she pushed away.

 

“Shut up, you’re so embarrassing,” Chiara whined, even as Carmen dragged her from the house toward her car. 

 

“You love it, don’t try to lie~. Now come on, we’ve gotta  _ go _ !” It was obvious Carmen was excited for the ice rink, and Chiara couldn’t help but smile a little to herself. She was always so passionate about everything she did- it was one of Chiara’s favorite traits about her. 

 

Once they were in the car, it was a short trip to the ice rink downtown. Carmen sang along to the radio the whole way while driving, complete with dramatic dance moves that left Chiara uncertain as to whether to be laughing or fearful for her life. When it came time to pay for their allotted time on the ice, Carmen insisted on paying for the both of them. Well, Chiara certainly wasn’t going to complain about that- never look a gift horse in the mouth, she thought. She’d been so caught up in Carmen’s charm this whole time, that she never really stopped to consider what might have been the most important thing to remember from the second she agreed to go to the rink.

 

_ Chiara had no idea how to ice skate. _

 

Sure. she’d gone rollerskating a few times as a kid, but the realization that she had no idea how to do this washed over her as she stepped onto the ice. While she clutched onto the railing for dear life, Carmen effortlessly glided to stand next to her.  _ How in the fuck was she so good at this? _

 

“How do you  _ do _ that?” she demanded, glaring down at Carmen’s skates as if they were personally responsible for her incoming humiliation. Carmen stared at her for a moment in surprise, then burst into laughter. 

 

“Chia, you agreed so easily, I thought you already knew how to skate!” she giggled. “Were you just that excited to spend time with me~?”

 

“ _ No. _ ” Chiara insisted.  _ Yes _ , her mind replied. It took a minute for Carmen’s laughter to die down.

 

“Well, that’s okay. That means I’ll just have to teach you, right?” She moved to stand close beside Chiara and put her hands on her waist. “Don’t worry, I’m a really good teacher~,” she murmured into her ear.

 

Chiara’s face went bright red, and a shiver that had nothing to do with the cold ran up her spine. Carmen’s hands were warm as they held her by the waist firmly, and when Carmen encouraged her to let go of the rail she did so easily, although her heart was still racing a mile a minute. “I swear, if you make me fall-” she warned, hating the way her voice wavered. Hopefully Carmen would write it off as nerves about skating.

 

“Don’t you trust me? I’d never let you fall. I’ve got you, preciosa~...” She assured her, voice soft and sweet beside her. As Chiara slowly relaxed, she was rewarded with a little squeeze from Carmen. “Now, bend your knees a little and lean forward- yes, perfect!”

 

“Are you sure this isn’t an elaborate plot to feel my ass?” Chiara huffed as she did as she was told. 

 

“It’s not, don’t worry! Having you bend over in front of me is just a happy coincidence~,” she assured her. “Now, don’t look down. What I want you to do next is take two steps forward and then let your momentum help you glide. Don’t worry, I won’t let you fall.” True to her word, as soon as she felt Chiara begin to wobble, she made sure to hold her steady. They continued like that for a while, and slowly but surely Chiara started to find her balance as well as her confidence. She wanted to whine and complain when Carmen let go of her waist to hold her hands instead, but at least she felt sure she wouldn’t immediately fall now. It really wasn’t that different from rollerskating, and once she started to get into the right rhythm it was easy enough to move, albeit slowly. Carmen was patient beside her, giving her instructions and tips as they went. 

 

“Our time is about up, do you want to try doing it on your own before we leave?” she asked, tilting her head.

 

Chiara had a choice to make. She could either say no and try to get Carmen to hold her again-  _ god, _ that had felt nice- or she could actually try and show off for her. “I, uh. I’ll give it a shot,” she decided. If she showed promise, maybe Carmen would want to take her back here for more lessons. With a nod, Carmen let go of her hands and moved out of the way. Chiara started off strong, stepping and gliding to get a feel for how it would be to balance on her own. With a self-assured nod, she started skating forward, picking up speed. “I’m doing it!” she cried.

 

“You’re doing great, Chia~!” Carmen called, staying close behind her. “Ah, you might want to slow down though- that curve could be hard on your own,” she warned.

 

“No way, I’ve got this now!” She smirked and managed to make it through the curve, but it left her wobbly and off balance. “Carmen-- Carmen, how do I stop?” Before Carmen could answer, gravity decided to help her stop instead and she went down, sliding across the ice like a penguin. Carmen hurried to her side and knelt down.

 

“Are you okay?” She asked worriedly, taking her hand again as she helped her up. Poor Chiara had made the mistake of choosing fashion over practicality, and the thin material of her shirt was now completely soaked and cold.

 

“Holy shit, I’m  _ freezing _ ,” she gasped. Other than that, though, she seemed fine. Carmen laughed lightly and helped her dust off any flecks of ice remaining before they could melt and add to the problem.

 

“Aww, poor thing. Our time is up anyway, do you want to go back to my place? I’ll fix you a warm drink, and you can borrow one of my sweaters,” she offered. Chiara thought for a moment, then nodded.

 

As they got in the car, Chiara knew she had to tell Carmen how she felt. She was just so endlessly sweet, she deserved to know that she had stolen her heart. And with the way she acted… Chiara had hope that maybe she felt the same way. Her heart was in her throat as she rode back with Carmen, and she had never been more grateful for the radio as a distraction. How was she going to tell her? Should it be immediately? Should she wait? Oh shit, what was she supposed to do? How was she supposed to just say something like that? But of course, she’d never forgive herself if Carmen moved on to someone else because she was too chicken to say anything. But still--

 

“ _ Chiara! _ ”

 

She looked up, and- oh. In the middle of her freaking out, she failed to notice that they were in Carmen’s driveway. And that apparently Carmen had been trying to get her attention for some time now. “Uh… Yeah?” She asked weakly, cheeks a dark red.

 

“Chia, did you hit your head when you fell..? You were totally out of it,” Carmen murmured, leaning closer to get a better look at her. Chiara blinked, quickly shaking her head.

 

“I-I’m fine. I just…” It was now or never. “I… I really like you,” she managed to say. She wasn’t sure how she expected Carmen to react, but a confused stare was certainly not it.

 

“I really like you too, Chia… Are you sure you’re alright?”   
  


“I’m sure, damnit! I-I mean, I  _ really _ like you! And I was- uh, wondering if you wanted to m-maybe gooutsometime?” She made herself burst through the last part before she could chicken out.

 

Somehow, Carmen only looked more confused. “Sweetie… is this not the third date we’ve been on?”

 

Chiara’s jaw dropped. “What.”

 

“The aquarium and the picnic…”

 

“ _ Those were dates? _ ” How had she not realized? Holy shit. “Why didn’t you, like, kiss me or some shit?”

 

Carmen blushed. “I-I wanted to, but, you always get so flustered! I figured I’d let you make the first move with that kind of thing so you wouldn’t feel pressured!” 

 

“Oh my god.” Chiara buried her face in her hands, ready to just die on the spot. “I’m an actual idiot.”

 

“Well, maybe a little,” Carmen laughed lightly, gently pulling her hands away from her face. “But that just means we can make up for lost time with more dates! And this time I’ll kiss you lots, don’t worry~. For now, though, let’s go inside and warm up.”

 

Chiara could only nod quietly and get out of the car. She was such an idiot, how had she not known for sure earlier that they were on a fucking date? She followed Carmen inside and immediately let herself into Carmen’s bedroom to change. She’d ended up wearing her clothes plenty of times before, and dug around until she found the comfiest possible set of pajamas. The soft, warm fabric already helped her feel a little better, as well as the fresh clean scent of Carmen’s detergent. However, that aroma was quickly replaced with that of hot chocolate as she stepped from the bedrooom and towards the kitchen. 

 

Carmen turned, two mugs in hand, and smiled brightly. “You look so  _ cute _ , Chia~,” she cooed, earning a blush from the shorter girl. “Come on, let’s go drink hot cocoa and find a bad romcom to make fun of!”

 

Chiara snorted and shook her head. “We both know you’ll get invested and end up crying at the end, but sure,” she replied, following her to the couch. They both sat down and cuddled up to one another, with Chiara leaning against Carmen’s shoulder. The rest of the night was filled with sappy movies and warm drinks that were almost as sweet on the tongue as the long-awaited kisses in between. Chiara slipped her hand into Carmen’s, deciding that even if she hadn’t realized it at first, this had been an amazing date. And there would be many more to come from now on.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! If you like it, please let me know! Comments drive me to write so much more than kudos do. Even if it's just a sentence, it'll make my day!


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